Lions On Latics

We may not even have reached the end of February and talk about potential 'six-pointers' seems a littlle premature - but no-one can doubt that Saturday's visit of Oldham Athletic in a clash that brings two League One promotion hopefuls together really could be called just that.

As potential 'six-pointers' go, this weekend's Den clash has all the ingredients of a not-to-be-missed encounter between Kenny Jackett's fourth-placed Lions and John Sheridan's Latics outfit, who sit just one place and one point behind.

There is certainly more than a little hint of a revenge mission in the air as far as The Lions are concerned.

When the two sides locked horns at Boundary Park on the opening day of the season, Tresor Kandol scored after just 14 seconds of his Lions debut as the south Londoners raced into a 3-1 lead and appeared to be heading for victory.

But then the controversial sending off of skipper Paul Robinson 17 minutes from time for an alleged foul on Lee Hughes paved the way for a an Oldham fight back that was as astonishing as it was sickening for the travelling fans, who watched as The Lions slipped to a 4-3 defeat.

And that loss, even though it was six months ago, still rankles, not least with Lions defender Robbo, who will be watching Saturday's game with interest and frustration in equal measure as injury keeps him sidelined.

"The meeting with Oldham brings back not so fond memories for me of the first game of the season where I was sent-off, rather harshly I felt," said Robbo.

"I'm looking for the boys to do me a favour by picking up the three points which will go some way towards redressing the balance.

Oldham have some very experienced players and are still up there among the promotion chasers."